The date two years from the date of a school’s previous Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification or recertification expiration date on which a school is required to file a completed petition for SEVP recertification.

An F or M student’s spouse and/or minor child (who is unmarried and under 21 years old). Dependents may legally accompany you to the United States or join you in the country while you study. They must apply for either an F-2 or M-2 visa.

The form of a petition submitted and maintained by school officials electronically in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System for the Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification of the school to enroll F-1 and/or M-1 students.

A form students use to request a change to another nonimmigrant visa status (F-2 to F-1, F-1 to H-1B, etc.), or to request reinstatement if they have fallen out of student status. M students also use this form to request to remain in the United States for a longer period of time, to transfer to another Student and Exchange Visitor Program-certified school.

The date listed on a student’s Form I-20, “Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status,” when they or are expected to complete their program of study and must either transfer to another school, apply to change education level, apply to change to another nonimmigrant status or depart the United States within 60 days.

​The date listed on a student’s Form I-20, “Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status,” when they must enroll in an academic or vocational program of study. Students can enter the United States no more than 30 days before this date and need to contact their designated school official no later than this date to inform them they are in the country.

A part of the National Security Investigations Division and acts as a bridge for government organizations that have an interest in information on nonimmigrants whose primary reason for coming to the United States is to be students.

On behalf of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, SEVP manages schools, nonimmigrant students in the F and M visa classifications and their dependents.
 

The only schools that are officially authorized to enroll F and M students.

Changes that designated school officials at Student and Exchange Visitor Program‑certified schools must make if the school’s Form I-17, “Petition for Approval of School for Attendance by Nonimmigrant Students,” does not match the school’s current operating status.